First Impressions
by Silver-Snow-77
Summary: Lavilena week Theme 1: First Impressions. Lenalee was glad to make a new friend, and Lavi promised to be an interesting addition to her life.


**Hey all, Snow here. College and life in general have kept me fairly busy, so I haven't posted my writing in a while. Well, I figured "why not do Lavilena week?" Lavilena is one of my favorite OTPs, and my friend is one of the mods/organizers/founders.**

**This is a day late, but it's my first entry for Lavilena week, based on the First theme, ****_First Impressions_****. It was kind of a pain to get it all to work and I kept changing things, which is why I'm posting this today. My usual beta isn't into Lavilena, so I didn't want to make her read stuff for a pairing she doesn't like.**

**Warnings: some vulgar language, mentions of violence, Lavi is a perv, Kanda and Komui don't approve of his sense of humor, fluffy sweet romance, kind of cliche, Lavi being a dork, not beta-d.**

The first time she saw him, he was joyfully raking up leaves in his backyard, dancing around happily and humming an off-key rendition of a Broadway show tune she vaguely recognized. The lanky teenager looked ridiculous, but his joyful energy was infectious, and she found herself starting to grin as she watched him gamboling across the grass and nearly trip on the roots of the old Apple tree that stretched its branches over and above the fence.

Lenalee and her brother had been living in their quiet neighborhood for several years, and having the friendly old woman who used to live in the house next door pass away was sad, but not unexpected. The house was bought a week or so after her family had put it up for sale, and the new owners had moved in while she was at school two days before. Now it was a lazy Sunday afternoon, and one of her new neighbors was making a spectacle of himself on the other side of the chain link fence, tossing leaves into the air and dancing like an excited child.

The Chinese girl decided that she might as well wait for him to calm down a bit before greeting him, and in her typical thoughtfulness prepared two cups of pumpkin spice tea. After all, it was rather chilly outside, and what better way to ensure a good first impression than to offer him a warm beverage? Lenalee put on her friendliest smile as she buttoned up her coat and wrapped her scarf around her neck before grabbing the two mugs and marching determinedly towards the door. Her neighbor didn't seem to notice as she exited her kitchen and closed the door behind her, so she elected to walk over to the patio table and then greet him.

Just as she was setting the mugs down on the table's surface, the teenager on the other side of the fence flicked back his fiery red hair and struck a dramatic pose before taking a running jump into the pile of leaves he had accumulated and began rolling around in it. The sight was so unexpected that she froze for a moment, a bit baffled. Her jaw fell open slightly in surprise before she burst into muffled laughter. She didn't want to offend the older teen, but he looked so childish that she couldn't help giggling at the sight of him, clothes rumpled and completely covered in tattered bits of colorful leaves.

The redhead popped out of the leaf pile, his single green eye catching her violet ones as he grinned sheepishly, hopping up and striding over to the fence. They stood like that for a long moment, Lenalee's laughter ebbing as the stranger rubbed the back of his neck. She took matters into her own hands, walking away from the patio and stopping in front of her new neighbor with her face flushed from laughter and cold.

"Nice to meet you, my name is Lenalee Lee," she said, smiling widely and offering him her hand. The boy leaned forwards, reaching over the fence to shake her hand with a firm grip. His hands were much larger than her own, and she could feel the callouses on his fingers and palm.

"My name's Lavi, Lavi Bookman Junior. Nice to meet you too!" He replied, his grin only growing wider as his single eye twinkled. "I'm guessing by your accent you're native Chinese?"

"Oh. Yes, I am." Lenalee was surprised he noticed. Her accent had faded after years of living in England, and if not for Komui speaking Mandarin with at home she might have started to forget her native tongue. Clearly Lavi was an observant type of guy.

"It's faint, but still there. You've definitely been living here a while, though." He grinned cheekily at her, tilting his head in a manner that reminded her of a curious puppy. His hair shifted with the movement, drawing attention to the patch over his right eye. Lenalee realized she was staring and dropped her gaze, pale cheeks flushing even more.

"Is one of those for me?" Lavi asked, gesturing towards the table where the steaming mugs still sat.

"Ah, yes!" Lenalee exclaimed, snapping out of her embarrassment. If he had noticed her staring, he didn't seem bothered. "Should I go around and let you in from the front?"

"No need," he said, moving back and to the side a bit before jumping over the fence. Lenalee started, suddenly inches away from him, and Lavi chuckled before backing away a bit with an apologetic look. "Sorry if I startled you. So, let's sit, then?"

Lenalee sighed, but sat down and started to sip from her designated mug. Lavi followed her example, though his sip soon turned into a loud, messy slurp. She raised an eyebrow and he shrugged back. "Tastes good, and hot spiced tea is even better considering it's cold as balls out today."

"You should be glad my brother is inside. If he heard you saying things like that he'd flip out." She winced at a particular memory as it flashed briefly through her mind. Her brother was very protective, with plenty of good reason, but threatening to castrate her friend's brother for making a dirty joke in her presence was a bit much. At least with Kanda he recognized that the Japanese boy was just plain foul mouthed, though he still covered her ears whenever he could. Lavi would do well to watch his mouth.

"Ah, one of those brothers? You're pretty cute, but you seem like you could hold your own, Lenalady." Lavi said, winking at her. His single eye made it hard to tell, but his rather flirtatious tone made it more obvious which it was.

"Lenalady? What kind of nickname is that?" She demanded, setting down her mug and giving him a pointed look. He raised his hands in a placating gesture still grinning that same foxlike grin.

"I just like giving nicknames. You seem very ladylike, in a good way, and it isn't a bad one, right?"

"I guess..." She said, still a bit unsure. Here they were, still virtual strangers, and yet he was already giving her a nickname? He also seemed to be learning more about her than the other way around, and Lenalee decided to fix that.

"So, where are you from?" she asked, determined to steer their conversation back onto its original track.

"A lot of places. We just moved here from America, but Gramp's job means he travels a lot," Lavi said, absently swirling what was left of his tea around the bottom of the mug.

"What does he work as? Is he in the government?" She asked, curious.

"He's an acclaimed historian and archaeologist, particularly with the more obscure cultures. He might be taking a long term job as a professor at UCL," he said, shrugging again. Clearly he wasn't that impressed, even with the school's world-famous credentials.

"My brother is a student there. He's studying medicine, how to make it safer and more effective," she said. Lavi nodded, and then proceeded to pelt her with more questions, about her brother life in general, her school, and the neighborhood. Lenalee found herself laughing at him frequently, and by the time his grandfather called him inside the sun was beginning to go down, the hours slipping passed as they chatted. Lenalee was glad to make a new friend, and Lavi promised to be an interesting addition to her life.

—•—

"Hey, Lenalady! These are the same mugs we were drinking out of me the first time we talked!" Lavi exclaimed, jumping up excitedly and almost dropping the ceramic mugs in the process. Lenalee darted forwards, grabbing the items from him and carefully placing them on the table.

"My brother probably put them in the box. We can reminisce later, let's finish unpacking before you make a mess," she declared, steering the energetic redhead back towards the boxes filled with dishes and silverware that were sitting on the counter.

"Aww, come on! We're almost done, and I'm thirsty? Please, Lena?" He whined, giving her the pitiful puppy-dog look in hopes of getting to sit down and put off his part of unpacking their things. Lenalee rolled her eyes at him and he pouted back, turning around and going back to his job. He perked up when she grabbed a spoon and the beautiful glass teapot Jerry gave her for Christmas, and the sound of running water made him wriggle in place from anticipation.

The development of their relationship from acquaintances to friends, and then to lovers, was a long one. Lavi was homeschooled and Lenalee had gone to a private all girl's school, so they only spent time together when Lavi wasn't busy with online classes (He was two years ahead of grade level, so he was soon taking University courses) and Lenalee was home from school and gymnastics. Kanda, Lenalee's oldest friend, was slow to warm up to Lavi, mostly due to the redhead's antics and habit of giving people rather unusual nicknames. Komui was also hesitant about letting Lavi spend time with Lenalee, though in his case it was mostly because Komui had trouble trusting men in general, especially where his beloved little sister was concerned.

Lavi settled in after a few months, and three years later Allen Walker joined their group of friends. It was only when Kanda was about to graduate and Lavi was scheduled to start taking classes in an actual classroom setting for his third year at UCL that Lenalee started to realize that Lavi saw her as something a bit other than a friend, though he was still an insufferable flirt as always.

With him spending more of his time on campus and studying, their contact was more through Skype and their cell phones than conversations in person. And when a classmate glanced at her phone and assumed that Lavi was her boyfriend based on his manner of addressing her, Lenalee started to really consider the possibility that Lavi could possibly have a crush on her. Lenalee had to search her own feelings for weeks to determine whether or not his feelings were returned, and the moment she asked Allen for help, he practically confirmed that Lavi was in love with her. After an awkward conversation and a long relieved hug, she and Lavi started dating, and here they were now, both graduates of UCL and moving into a shared flat.

The whistle of the teapot broke Lenalee out of her reverie, and she quickly poured the boiling water into the mugs, settling down to wait for the tea to steep. Lavi had finished his duties while she was lost in thought, and her boyfriend had flopped into the chair across from her, currently occupied with a copy of Private Eye in his hands, poring over one of the more vulgar entries with a mischievous smirk on his face. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes again, knowing that Lavi was just being Lavi, and his twisted sense of humor was part of what made him the ludicrous, smart-arsed troublemaker she loved.

Lavi eagerly gulped down tea the moment she removed the teabag, mating to spill the hot liquid and burn his tongue in the process. And as Lenalee was scolding him for not waiting and mopping up the mess, she was still smiling fondly. Lavi was her messy, perverted, ridiculous prankster of a boyfriend, and she wouldn't have him any other way.

**I hope you all enjoyed this. Please review, feedback is always important!**


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